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Forum Discussion
Will Nighthawk AX8 work with Netgear N900 router?
I have a Netgear N900 router, model WNDR4500v3. Bought a Nighthawk Ax8 range extender; Nighthawk app setup screen says "Router not supported". Are they truly incompatible, and I need to upgrade my router? Or is there another old school manual way to set up the extender via Netgear Genie at routerlogin? Or, is there a different range extender that would be compatible with my router?
11 Replies
fraziera wrote:
Bought a Nighthawk Ax8 range extender
Which one?
Ax8 is not a unique Netgear model number. Many devices come with the AC/AX tag, but it is essentially a label that Netgear, and others, attach to hardware to describe wifi speeds.
Look at the label on the device for the Model Number. And, if there is one, include the "V" bit to show the hardware version. If there is no V number, then you have V1.
EAX80?
Nighthawk app setup screen says "Router not supported".The WNDR4500v3 is an old – 2015 based on a 2013 original – router. It predates the Nighthawk app. But you shouldn't need that to set up an extender.
Manuals are always a good place to start. Visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware.Hi Michaelk, thanks for the reply & assistance. It's a NighthawkAX8 model EAX80. No V number. I've got the user manual downloaded and am on the section describing "Connect with Netgear Installation Assist". I can't get past step 1, which is:
--
Enter [wifi website link- admin won't let me post here]
The NETGEAR installation assistant displays.
4. Follow the prompts to connect your extender to your existing router WiFi network.--
All I get when I enter the above link in a browser is a page that says "You are not connected to your extender's wifi network". Sorry, I have a pretty elementary education level with internet technology... My router is setup with WPA2-PSK [AES] security. Only other options are WPA-PSK [TKIP]+WPA2-PSK[aes], or WPA/WPA2 Enterprise.
The purpose of all of this is to try and extend the wifi network down to our detached garage (75 feet away) for an EV car charger that requires wifi. Our house has a brick exterior, so the existing router wifi does not currently reach down there even though it's on 2.4ghz. I was hoping the extender would solve this. Didn't realize how old our router is until your comments! Am I better off buying a new router? Thanks for your help.
fraziera wrote:
The purpose of all of this is to try and extend the wifi network down to our detached garage (75 feet away) for an EV car charger that requires wifi. Our house has a brick exterior, so the existing router wifi does not currently reach down there even though it's on 2.4ghz. I was hoping the extender would solve this. Didn't realize how old our router is until your comments! Am I better off buying a new router? Thanks for your help.
75 feet could be a stretch for wifi. Have you tried setting it up close to the router? Get them connected and then you can move the extender to its planned location.
The WNDR4500 was never that great, but if you can get it to work, why change?
The WNDR is a really old/slow device as michaelkenward says.
Why did you add an extender that is way beyond the capability of the router?
I'd recommend upgrading the router before you add extenders or anything like that.
But it should still connect. It'll just be limited to the routers speeds (which aren't good)
Hi Plemans,
The purpose of all of this is to try and extend the wifi network down to our detached garage (75 feet away) for an EV car charger that requires wifi. Our house has a brick exterior, so the existing router wifi does not currently reach down there even though it's on 2.4ghz. I was hoping the extender would solve this. I didn't realize how old our router is until the comments here. Am I better off buying a new router? Assuming I'd still need the extender due to the brick wall issue.
I'm reading here that I should be able to still connect this extender to our old router, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Trying to use Netgear Installation Assistant, but so far all I get is "You are not connected to your extender's Wifi Network".
Thanks for the help.
Factory reset the extender (push and hold reset for 7-15 seconds while its powered on). It should then broadcast a Netgear_Ext network you can connect to a go through setup on. Here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJVklshxBMkIn terms of connecting, it *might* help. tough to know 100% though because brick does a great job of blocking wifi. Any chance you have coax ran to the garage? A MOCA adapter (ethernet over coax) would work great. Powerline might work if its connected to the same circuit with that distance.
Your best best would be to bury an underground ethernet wire between the 2 and put an access point (maybe an old wndr4500 that's getting retired?) in the garage. In an area where the wire didn't need to be deep (for a friend), we used a cheap saw to make a shallow 4inch deep cut and stuffed an underground cable in it for that type of short distance. Was it up to code? Nope. But it worked for connecting his "remote office" in a shed
